Neon Genesis Evangelion: Horizon of Eternity
by Bardic
Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belongs to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. This is simply a piece of fanfiction based on the series. There, now since that's out of the way...
Here's the second part of the Tokyo Bay battle, and the conclusion of the smuggler fleet story. Hope y'all like it.
Bardic out.
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Chapter 05: Kingfisher
-
The first rays of sunlight bursted from the distant horizon, racing through mile after mile of ocean until it reached Old Tokyo Bay, its cold light revealing what little of the area had escaped devastation. Out on the shore many of the smaller ships that were docked the night before now rested in the relatively shallow seabed, their remains an exotic addition to the graveyard of a great city submerged for nearly sixteen years now, while the larger vessels that were so impeccably placed by their respective controllers drifted haphazardly along the coast, torn from their moorings. Rows of warehouses neatly organized in blocks of color ran smoothly along the concrete wharf only to be broken by odd trails of destruction; part of a roof torn there, a clump of buildings crushed here, even a collapsed section farther inland while the warehouses in front, all directly by the shore, stood untouched as if a large object had fallen from the sky to demolish what was there. Soon the sunlight crept up the remains of the control tower, still and silent save for the small plumes of black smoke that escaped from the gaping hollow where the center had been, snaking their way to the sky. A slight distance from the ruined building was another sight to behold: from the wharf there was a large swath of control buildings and warehouses bulldozed into a path that led away from the ocean and straight for the hills. It was there, right after the massive trail ended, that the sunlight seemed to slow; like a gigantic spotlight it illuminated the scene of battle itself, indiscriminately bathing all in its radiant blaze. The land was scarred, the heroes cast down and the enemy standing ominously over one of the fallen, poised to deliver the final blow.
After dodging Eva-00's fatal knife thrust and counter-attacking the angel finally showed its true form. The core was fully separated from the body, floating independently over Eva-00 as it lay helpless on the ground. The bony projections still surrounded the glowing red orb, swirling around it protectively until tapering off into four perpendicular points like that of a four pointed star. Now freed from the bulk of the armor the body had also transformed, becoming a lithe dark-green humanoid figure that exuded deadly speed, further emphasized by the sinuous movements of the scorpion-like tails that thrusted out of its back. It was these two figures that were over the fallen Eva-00, at any moment ready to finish the kill, when the angel suddenly detected a massive energy spike approaching with incredible velocity. As one both forms swiftly turned to engage this new threat; the moment it came into view two identical black spheres blasted from the ends of each tail, their aim true, both hitting the target with twin explosions of violent dark energy that rent the surrounding hillside.
The next instant Eva-01 burst through the cloud of dirt and still-crackling energy, its jaws agape and its arms outstretched as if in hunger. Like a bullet the Eva flew toward the angel at blinding speed, using a manipulated AT field to catapult itself towards its target while letting out a howl that seemed to come from the bowels of the earth. The cry itself was filled with rage; a primal impulse, like a beast hurling its challenge in the face of its animal kin. The angel responded immediately, the body darting forward to intercept the Eva in midflight while the core zipped away at another angle, apparently intending to flank. The morning sunlight followed the combatants as they rushed headlong into each other, its glorious radiance igniting their stage, awaiting the inevitable moment when the colossal figures would meet in a terrifying, violent collision.
It happened a few seconds later.
As if already expecting that there was no way for Eva-01 to alter its trajectory, the angel's left arm shot straight forward with all its claws gathered into a wicked point, intending to spear through the target's heart in a single blow. The moment the angel's claws brushed the surface of its chest armor Eva-01 blurred, this time throwing another AT Field to boost itself to the side, evading the blow in the space of a single heartbeat. The massive velocity born from the second, near-instant acceleration threatened to propel Eva-01 a few hundred feet away from its enemy, but just as it was about to pass completely out of reach the Eva's right hand lashed out to seize the angel's own outstretched arm, crushing the segmented armor underneath its fingers. At the same time the Eva dug its foot in the ground violently, using the friction as a means to slow down, the amount of inertia present in itself enough to plow through earth and rock alike with equal impunity. Aided by the raw forces that it rode, Eva-01 yanked the angel off its feet easily, nearly ripping the appendage off in the process. Then with a sudden jerk every muscle in the Eva's body pulled taut, straining as it forced itself into a tight spin with the angel flailing helplessly behind. Like a twig caught in a twister it whistled through the air, spinning, until Eva-01 slammed it full force against the core that was just about to ram the Eva from behind. The impact was explosive, the sharp report of cracking bone crisply clear against the mad cacophony of destruction, the segmented tail finally tearing off in an arc of dark-green blood. Both the body and core were flung some six hundred feet away into a relatively steep and rocky hill with enough power to bury them into the ground, boulders from the shattered hilltop raining down on the pair.
Finally Eva-01 skidded to a halt, the deep furrow on the ground trailing behind it a silent testament to just how much force had to be expended. It's eyes shone, glaring white and glowing feverishly as it turned to the rubble where the angel had crashed, flinging the angel's torn arm away. It roared again, throwing the gauntlet to its fallen nemesis. It tenuously remained in place as if waiting for a response; motionless, like a coiled viper ready to explode into action as the slightest hint of a threat. A few seconds later the rocks shifted, followed immediately by another black orb lobbed straight at the Eva. It was batted out the air almost contemptuously, detonating in the background. Bright eyes, manic eyes, continued to watch the restless debris like a hawk until the core, its surface now dusted with grime and two of its four points broken raggedly, shook free of the rocks and floated back into view, dust and fine dirt trickling down from numerous places. It then proceeded to drift away just as the body started to haul itself out of the rubble, an action that didn't get very far.
Without warning Eva-01's feet smashed down from the sky, driving the angel's body back into its rocky grave, closing the distance in a single impossible leap. Ignoring the core as it circled wide behind, the Eva focused its murderous rage on the twitching mass beneath it, hammering with fists and tearing off chunks of flesh with its bare hands in rabid fury. The body's remaining segmented arm made a feebly attempt to counter-attack; in a blink it was promptly caught, torn off and cast aside. Straddling the now helpless body Eva-01 returned to its gruesome work, its face and torso grotesquely painted in the angel's blood. Finally it grasped the shoulders, one hand on each side, then heaved, cording powerful muscles as it attempted to rip the angel's body in two. Moments passed as the thing was stretched to its limit, at any moment ready to tear apart, when out of nowhere the core slammed into the Eva's back, the collision throwing it away from the body and into a sparse thicket some few hundred feet forward, uprooting the trees that were in its path.
The Eva leaped back to its feet a moment later, roaring in anger as this time it rushed the floating red orb. The core was deceptively agile, weaving through the air and easily avoiding the Eva's grasping hands. It led the the attacker in a quick erratic dance, slowing enticingly for one moment only to flit away out of reach at just as the Eva had closing in, slowly leading it away from the quivering body. Back at the ruined hill what was left of the angel's body slowly rose, its wounds mending, uncountable spasms jolting it at odd angles as shattered bones within reset themselves. Its rate of regeneration was nothing short of miraculous, a thing that even NERV bio-specialists would have attested impossible until it they saw it with their own eyes. Barely thirty seconds have passed and the angel was nearly whole, the last of its gaping wounds closing, the two arms that were torn off now bubbling stumps at the back of the body, thrusting ever outward. Out in the distance Eva-01 continued its futile chase, oblivious to the imminent danger that was rearing up behind.
--
Sobs, she thought. That it was the first thing that came to her mind as she hung motionless in the darkness, recognizing the soft sounds that filled her ears. It seemed to come from a great distance yet it echoed from all around her, insistent and pulling at her silent emotions. It commanded attention and forced her to think, as if the distant sobbing should have meant something important. Imbued with a growning sense of urgency she blindly floated through the shadowed corridors of her silent mind, ever faster, pursuing the ghostly whisper deep into darkness. With every moment that passed her desperation grew, her desire to know becoming a frenzied hunt in the pool of shadows until without warning she broke the surface of its murky depths into clarity, her memories all coming back in a disorienting rush.
-Faye!-
Asuka awoke to burning pain inside Eva-02's bright entry plug, a helpless moan escaping her lips. It felt as if her whole body were blistered and raw to the touch, her every minute movement answered by deep biting stings. She remained very still while her eyes darted from screen to screen, trying to reorient herself as much as she can. All she can remember was that only a few minutes before she was standing guard by the shore with her back to the water when something blasted her from behind. She seemed to have passed out and was lying down with her face on the ground, hurting like hell. All that only took a few moments, then she swallowed hard as she forced herself to ignore the pain for the sake of a friend.
"Faye?" Asuka called out hoarsely, addressing the sobbing girl through the open comm-channel.
Faye's tear-stained face didn't move an inch. "Oh god, Asuka, I hurt so much." the blonde answered, her voice trembling.
The red-head scrunched her own eyes shut in dismay, thankful that the other girl couldn't notice the tears that leaked down her face. Faye was at the edge of hysteria and ready to fall in at any moment, whatever torture she felt from the link with her Eva no doubt too much to handle, especially since this was her first mission. Asuka once again looked around, confirming what she already knew: she couldn't see what was happening but she felt that something was going on; the ground shook like crazy. She saw that Eva-03 was on its knees with its arms wrapped around its head in defense, and knew that it also could probably see what was going on out there. It was up to Asuka to keep Faye from breaking down and right now the redhead knew that she had to be a beacon of strength, a lifeline the blonde could cling to no matter how hard or painful things were right now. For her friend and possibly for everyone as well. Asuka forced steel into her voice.
"Do you know what's happening?"
"I don't know. I can't see. I can't move, Asuka! My whole body feels like its on fire and moving only makes it worse!"
"You've got to move your arms, Faye-chan. We've got to know what's going on. I can't see from where I am so you've got to tell me what's happening."
"No, I can't! It hurts too much!" the blonde started wailing.
"Stop that!" Asuka snapped, her voice cracking like a whip. "Rei might need us and if you don't do anything she could die. Everybody might die! Do you want that to happen? Do you?" Faye's sobbing cut off raggedly, replaced by hoarse labored breathing. Through the comm-link Asuka saw her friend's face contort as she forced herself to move, probably through unimaginable pain. The verbal slap no doubt hit the other girl deep, and Asuka was only so glad at how effective it had been. She quietly sighed in relief.
-Good girl- the redhead thought as she watched Eva-03 slowly lower her arms. She herself locked her jaw and prepared to get to her feet, to ready herself for whatever was coming.
"Holy shit."
"What?" Asuka froze, knowing that the words were American but having no idea what they meant. The other girl's tone as she said it, however...
"Faye, what's wrong-" She trailed off when she heard the distant howls, at once recognizing them for what they were.
"Oh my god." The blonde's voice was a strange mix of awe and horror, no doubt because of what she's seeing, and Asuka can imagine what that was. Her own memories of Eva-01 going berserk was vividly burned in her mind. They were filled with blood, and death.
Monstrous.
"The angel?" Asuka demanded breathlessly.
Faye was silent for a few moments, then began answering as if in a trance. "It's changed. It separated in two and the core seems to be moving on its own. Same for the body. Shinji's - " the blonde took a ragged breath and swallowed hard before continuing, " - tearing ... into the body, but when he goes off to attack the core the body just, regenerates, then attacks him from the back. He ... doesn't ... seem to know what he's doing." she finished weakly.
-I can imagine.- Asuka thought bleakly. "How's Rei?"
"She's on her back quite a ways from both of them. She doesn't look hurt, but she's not moving."
Asuka's mind raced. -We need to destroy that core. If Faye's right no matter how strong Shinji is right now he can't beat the angel with what he's doing.-With a sudden burst of movement the redhead was finally able to haul herself up into a crouch, barely keeping the scream bottled down her throat. In a strangely detached way she concluded that even walking at her current state would simply be impossible; the pain was too great, blocking out all other sensations vital to body coordination that any attempt would only result with her ending up with her face on the ground again. Most probably Faye would be feeling the same, and that left only Rei. If she can still move, that is. She had to be alright.
Asuka began hailing her fallen friend.
---
Rei's eyes snapped wide when Eva-00 suddenly reactivated, the return of power bringing with it a flood of sensations, most poignant of which was the previous blow she took to the chest. This time she was somewhat prepared, having already felt the worst of the pain, and recuperation was a simple matter of lying very still inside the entry plug. Eyes closed she let her mind float, trying to detach herself from her senses in an effort to speed up her recovery.
"-ei? Rei? Are you al-" Asuka's voice sounding through the comm-link forced Rei back to reality. She opened her eyes and gazed at the two screens that displayed the anxious faces of her friends.
"I'm ok." Rei answered, bringing twin relieved sighs from both girls.
"Good." Asuka began with a wince. "I don't know if you can hear him but Shinji's gone crazy again. Can you move?"
Bracing herself Rei climbed back to her feet, grimacing at her body's reaction to the movement. Swaying unsteadily she took stock of what had happened the last few moments when her Eva-00 blacked out, and once again was greeted with the sight of Eva-01 on a rampage. The angel's core was fully separated from the body, just as she had suspected, both parts of the angel attacking Eva-01 as two independent entities, fully supporting each other with simple, deadly efficiency. When a sudden lunge allowed Eva-01 to grab one of the tapered edges of the floating core a blow behind would cause it to stagger, disrupting the attack and diverting its attention fully, allowing the core to fly to safety. When the body was severely mutilated the core would come rushing in, distracting the Eva yet again and allow the horridly torn body to regenerate only to repeat the process over and over, with Eva-01 obviously unaware of its growing predicament.
Another thing about the angel bothered Rei and a single glance at her back confirmed her suspicion. Her umbilical cable was undamaged and connected properly, yet she had lost power only minutes before.
"Rei?"
"I can move." the blue haired girl answered quietly. "There's something else about that angel that you should know. It somehow drains the Eva's power, even the batteries. I don't know how it does it, but it isn't permanent. I was fully drained just a while ago."
"Aw, goddamn it all to hell! This is just what we need." Asuka fumed. "Listen, Faye and I can't move. Do you have more info about the angel? From the sound of things Shinji isn't doing very well out there. I'll try to think of something we can do."
"I'll try a few things."
Rei carefully watched the furious melee, trying to determine what her objectives are. First, she had to confirm whether or not the angel could truly drain an Eva's power. When Eva-01 turned from the core to engage the angel's body Rei darted forward in an attempt to intercept the floating orb. When she got within two hundred feet of her target the cockpit flashed a warning, reverting to internal batteries. She immediately jumped back, returning her power source to normal while at the same time the core quickly zipped away from her at amazing speed, avoiding Eva-00 and moving in to distract Eva-01 yet again with equal ease.
"The core seems to be the one doing the draining. It's has a field around it that forces the Eva to revert to internal power." Rei reported. "And I'm afraid it's too fast for me to catch. It runs away before I can even get near."
Silence reigned for a few moments as the three girls let the information sink in. "How long does it take before the angel fully drains your batteries?" the redhead asked finally.
Rei's tried to remember. "I'm not sure. A minute, maybe two."
"One minute." the Asuka repeated absently. "Do you think you can chase the core over here so that both Faye and I can see it?"
"I'll try. It does run away from me, so I may get it to go in a general direction. What did you have in mind?"
"AT fields."
Rei blinked. "What?"
"Faye and I will try to trap the core with our AT fields, or atleast slow it down enough so that you can catch the dirty thing and bury a knife deep inside it." Asuka elaborated, her voice laced with ice-cold steel. "You do have your prog knife, right?"
"I've got another one. Are you sure about this?"
"You got anything else?"
With that Rei reached over to her other shoulder and promptly drew her reserve knife. "Eva-01, ready.", she declared as she activated the weapon, its blade humming ominously, using the phrase whose meaning was fully established between each of them during their recent teamwork training.
"Wait, will this work? I don't even have the slightest idea of what to do." Faye suddenly asked with a slight tremor in her voice.
"It's a longshot," Asuka admitted, "but its the best one we have. Just do what I'll do: try to deploy your AT Field to its fullest and when I give the signal try to wrap it around the core."
"Wrap it around the core? How do I do that?"
"Imagine you're throwing out a hand to grasp the red thing, only with your AT Field."
"What-"
"Faye-chan," Asuka cut in roughly, "it'll work. Trust me."
"If you say so." the blonde conceded, not at all sounding convinced. "Eva-03, ready."
"Eva-02, ready." the redhead announced in a grim voice. "Let's go, ladies."
----
Faye already knew how to manipulate her AT Field to some degree; she had spent hours on some of their training sessions doing exactly that. What concerned her was just how desperate their plan sounded. With stakes this high it bothered her that they were risking so much. -Is there no other way?- she desperately asked herself, yet she knew deep down that she had nothing else to suggest. This was their best shot and it felt that the slightest mistake would cause the whole scenario to go awry. More to the point, she knew for certain that if anybody would mess up and cause the whole thing to fail, it was going to be her. She was green, inexperienced, out on her first mission and here she was entrusted with the crux of the plan with Asuka. Was trusting her this much the right thing to do? Faye certainly didn't trust herself.
"Don't worry about it, Faye-chan. Just try your best. I'll take care of the rest." Asuka reassured her softly on the comm-link. "C'mon. Rei's moving."
-There's no turning back now.- Faye took a deep breath then nodded her thanks to the other girl. She might have accepted whatever would happen but doubts continued to gnaw at her from the inside. Her eyes darted restlessly, uncontrollably, until a glint near her feet made her look down. It was her positron rifle, easily within reach. She must have dropped it when the angel's attack exploded over her arms. Moments passed by, her heart pounding loudly in her ears as she continued to stare dumbly at the weapon.
"Faye?" Asuka called worriedly.
Before the thought even came to her Faye had snatched the rifle from the ground, the sudden movement sending waves of pain down her body. She clenched her teeth and shuddered but did not stop moving, as recovering her weapon was only half of what her body intended. Knees locked and shoulders in position she had the rifle leveled at the distant core the next moment, completing the familiar action as if she were in a trance. In a way, maybe she was. -Relax. Breath deeply and exhale softly. Feel your body but keep your eye on your mark. Let all sensations melt until all that's left is you and your target. Then you'll know when to pull the trigger.- her sister's voice came to her from the past, guiding her now just as it had the first time Faye held a gun. Only for a few moments did she follow the familiar exercise, but when the blonde opened her eyes her doubt was gone. All that remained was Asuka, Rei, herself and the distant, floating core of the angel.
Her mark.
"I'm ready, Asuka." Faye answered.
"You sure are. Keep your aim up; we might need it later. Heads up, here I go."
A few hundred feet to her side the blonde felt Eva-02's AT Field expand and took that as her queue. Keeping her aim on the core she focused her mind inward and imagined that she was diving into the warm, pulsing light that was her center. Then she began pushing out. The air blurred around Eva-03, earth and rocks pushed away in an expanding ring around her as as the Eva's AT Field took form. After a few more moments she had the field fully spread out around her, the growing strain of maintaining it making her grit her teeth uncomfortably, while Asuka's kept expanding until it peaked out about a third larger than her's.
"Good job. Keep it like that until I give the signal." the redhead advised, although Faye noted that her friend's voice was strained.
All this time her green eyes never left her quarry. Out in the open Faye watched as Eva-00 tried its best to chase the angel's core toward their position. It truly was fast; by herself Rei would surely have no chance to even get near the thing, not before it outdistances her in a flash. There was very little that her friend could do to control the core's movement; all that was consistent was that it was running away from Eva-00 while continuing to harry Eva-01 whenever possible. When another swoop brought the core near its body Faye's sight automatically shifted to study Eva-01's status. If not for her utter focus on the core and detachment from everything else she would have been horrified at the sheer animal brutality that Shinji displayed; as it was her eyes merely flicked over the carnage, coldly noting their position before returning once again to her prey. Slowly Rei inched the red orb closer to the ocean, Faye barely holding on to her AT field without being aware of it, until Asuka finally gave the signal.
"Now!" the redhead barked and a moment later Faye felt Eva-02's AT field vanish. Immediately she imagined her AT field wrapped around the core, like a fist twisting its grip ever tighter. The next instant she felt her AT Field shift away from her and reappear around the core in tight ring, pressing against several feet of empty space that could only be Eva-02's AT Field. Everything seemed to work out just as they thought it would; the core was slowed to a virtual stop and in a few more seconds Eva-00 would be beside it. However, the truth was far more frightening. The core appeared motionless but inside their invisible net struggled like a crazed animal, its lack of movement belying such frenzied efforts to break free. It sensed any sort of weakness on the shifting shell of the combined AT field, viciously attacking such spots only to shift on to another when the two girls tried to fortify its previous target.
"Rei, hurry!" Asuka called out in a tight voice.
As if in response Eva-00 appeared beside the core and wasted no time. She lunged at the bundle of AT fields knife first, the vibrating blade producing a fountain of sparks as it made contact. All progressive weapons were made to to cut through AT Fields, this one being no exception, but cutting through the combined strength of all three Fields over the angel was proving to be a critical miscalculation. It had already been over a minute, and Rei was barely through the first layer.
"I won't make it!" cried the blue haired girl.
The strain of holding the angel down also took its toll on both her and Asuka. Faye distantly noted that at any moment now she was going to lose her grip with her AT field and was sure that Asuka was also down on her last wind. Seconds ticked by, seeming to slow; Rei was through Asuka's AT field and had gouged the last barrier before she finally shut down, her power fully drained by the angel. As if sensing that the whole strategy was starting to crumble the core began acting up, doubling its efforts to break free.
"Ok, Faye. Here's plan B." Asuka said weakly, obviously spent. No other words came from her, only the slight change at the shape of her AT Field that the blonde immediately understood. Faye dropped her own field around the angel at once, holding the last of her strength in reserve as she gathered her AT Field in a small, dense knot. Now, if only the angel sees what Asuka had done...
The apparent weakness in the remaining barrier that sealed the core's movements was not missed. With explosive strength the red orb broke through the spot, rushing forward in a corridor made from Asuka's rapidly weakening AT Field, only to meet Faye on the other end with her positron rifle leveled straight at it.
"Go to hell." the blonde snarled as pulled the trigger, throwing the dense fist of her AT Field out at the same time.
The first few bullets hit the angel's weakened AT Field, bringing it down in a shower of exploding shells until it finally punched through, ripping completely through the core. At once the glow left it; as if strings above it were cut it crashed, bouncing on the ground until it rolled to a stop right in front of Eva-03's crouching form.
For the longest time the only sounds that filled Faye's entry plug were the hoarse breathing of all three girls. They were weary to the bone and right now the three were content on simply getting some of their strength back.
"Nice shooting, Faye-chan." Asuka croaked finally. Faye smiled wanly and shook her head, but just as she was about to reply a scream ripped out of Rei.
"Ikari-kun, no!"
Faye's head whirled towards Eva-00. Rei had her knife in front of her defensively, facing Eva-01 as it charged toward her at full speed. She tried to move, to raise her arms, anything she can do to help but found that she had no strength left. She can only watch in horror as Shinji bore down on Rei, at any moment about to reach Eva-00 and tear it apart in its bloodlust. She couldn't even find strength enough to scream.
Abruptly Eva-01 slowed down to a walk, its arms dropping and its shoulders drooping as if in exhaustion. The manic glow left its eyes as it turned to face Eva-00.
"Ayanami?" Shinji's voice, hoarse from screaming, suddenly sounded from the voice only comm-link.
-----
Misato vigorously scratched her bandanged arm in irritation, wincing as her bruised shoulder protested the sudden movement. It was nearly two hours after the angel had been neutralized, the NERV personnel wisely evacuating the crumbling control tower while the Evas had done battled outside. Nearly everyone inside the control room was injured in some way, Misato herself had her broken right-arm in a sling around her neck. The final report counted two NERV personnel killed, their bodies crushed under the enormous weight of collapsed walls. She was told that it was Commander Ikari himself who led the search and rescue attempt, single-handedly rousing the whole of NERV and taking command during such a desperate time. Misato hated him but she had to nod her head in grudging respect; if not for his efficiency and thoroughness she might still trapped inside the tower. Ambulances had been called immediately to care for the seriously wounded, while the rest were given sufficient first aid to finish what they had come here for. Just a few minutes ago NERV chartered tugboats have finally pulled the cargo ship over the wharf. The ship was derelict; there was absolutely no sign of the crew nor of the three smaller ships that escorted it. The most probable explanation was that they escaped during the angel attack.
"How's our cargo, Hyuuga-kun?" Misato asked without turning. The ocean breeze caught the edge of her coat, making it flutter.
"It's intact, Major." Hyuuga answered behind her, frowning as he typed on the mobile computer where he studied his data. "It's strange though."
"Strange?" Ritsuko asked sharply as she limped over to join the two, awkward in her crutches.
"Yes, Doctor. See here?" Hyuuga pointed at the screen for the benefit of both women, showing the distorted image of the scanned angel a few hours before compared to the most recent image. "A few hours ago there were all these streaks around the image, and I don't know what they hell they were. Now all I see are the normal magnetic distortions."
Misato shared a look with her blonde friend, apparently thinking about the same thing. -If that angel activates and becomes hostile right now...- she glanced over her shoulder at the two Evas standing by the wharf. Both Eva-01 and Eva-00 stood on guard, ready for any kind of threat. Asuka and Faye were included in the list of personnel who were taken back to NERV HQ and mechanics were already hard at work in recovering their grounded Eva units.
"Maybe it's just the Sat-scan's reaction to the angel's customized energy-dampening field." Ritsuko thought out loud, referring to how the angel was able to disrupt energy, either emitted or incumbent, within a given space around it. Misato merely grunted.
"C'mon, let's get down to the hold. The Commander already went there a few minutes ago. I want to see what kind of angel is worth all this trouble." Misato started walking, noting Ritsuko's difficulty and setting a suitable pace.
The three of them made their way down the cargo hold, passing thorough deserted cabins and a large messhall. The entire atmosphere was ghostly; there was hardly any evidence that people had been there at all. The cabins were all neat and uniform in appearance, every article and furniture in every room eerily in place. The messhall looked like it hasn't been used in weeks; dust had gathered thickly over kitchen utensils and dinnerware, and in one corner all the chairs were neatly stacked in piles ten or twenty feet tall. The three trudged in silence, each lost in his or her own thoughts, eventually reaching the service elevator and finally began their descent into the enormous cargo hold.
Whatever mystery this cargo ship had for Misato leaped a notch higher when she first glimpsed the inside of the hugh chamber. She somehow expected the whole room filled to the brim with supplies and other contraband, the ship belonging to a smuggling operation and all, but in contast there was hardly anything in the room. A few crates and machinery was all, hardly worth noting when compared to the huge shrouded figure lying on its back in the center of the room. Half of the blanketed figure was hidden from Misato's view by a substantial stack of supplies, so while they wound their way closer her eyes fastened on what they could see. Despite the covering it was obvious that the angel appeared to be humanoid in form, its sleek figure reminiscent of all the humanoid type angels that they've encountered so far. All around it were sophisticated machinery, no doubt used by whomever was there to observe the angel while it lay still. Off to the back, nearly hidden by more equipment, was some kind of tank filled with orange-colored liquid. -What is that? LCL? Its preposterous but it sure looks like it. What in the world were they doing here?- Misato thought, her eyes narrowing. It was the first concrete sign of people being in the ship, and its implications were not good. No, not good at all. -I wonder what she's thinking right now. She certainly knows more about those equipment that I do.- Misato thought, glancing at Ritsuko as they rounded the final corner to the angel. She had hoped to see some kind of reaction in the blonde scientist's face, but she didn't expect anything like this. Ritsuko's face was ashen, her mouth open as a strangled gasp escaped her lips. Her eyes were wide with shock, seemingly horrified at what she was seeing. Alarmed, Misato's head whipped back to the angel.
Having passed the last of the crates that lead to the center of the room they now had a full view of the huge figure. It's whole body was fully shrouded in some sort of tarpaulin-like material, tantalizing features hidden from plain sight save for the area around the head where the cover was pulled down in order to connect all the equipment to it. Misato staggered as if she were punched in the gut, staring dumbly at a silver, man-made face with scarlet eyes that seemed to stare right back at her.
It wasn't an angel.
"What..." She swallowed hard, and for a few moments her voice failed her. "What the fuck is this?" came the question that was undoubtedly the thought of all three right at that moment.
It was Gendou who answered their stunned query, stepping out from the shadows behind them, his voice as cold and distant as his eyes, unreadable as they gazed on the massive figure in the middle of the cargo hold.
"That, Major, is Evangelion Unit 04."
CHAPTER 05 END